Chris Rock Will Finally Address Will Smith's Slap in a Live Netflix Special

 

Ever since Will Smith assaulted him at last year's Oscars in front of his Hollywood peers and an estimated 15 million viewers on US television, Chris Rock has avoided the forums where celebrities often go to vent. No prime-time interviews with Oprah. No magazine covers. No confidences on Instagram. In short, no milking of the moment.

The only platform Rock has gone to is the stage he controls. The comedian has spent the past year on an almost non-stop tour of arenas and theaters, where he gradually cracks a series of jokes about being assaulted by Mr. Smith.

  Rock is expected to finally broaden his opinion of the slap in the Netflix special scheduled for March 4, where the company will live stream to millions of global subscribers.

  This makes Mr. Rock a test pilot for new technologies on the service and an event programming boost by the company that trained us to consume content on our own schedule.

“Watching it live on Netflix is a real shift in the build we have with our members,” said Robbie Praw, vice president of stand-up and comedy formats at Netflix. The streamer chose a performer "on Mount Rushmore of comedy" to create a mass moment that will elicit viewers' reactions in real time, he said.

The incident that rocked last year's Oscars is also set to be a laughing stock At the March 12 Academy Awards ceremony, Smith, who has been banned from Oscar events for 10 years, apologized to Rock and others on his social media accounts and sought redress during promotional appearances late last year for his film "Emancipation."

In other news: Oscars president admits punishment against Will Smith for slapping Chris Rock was over the top. Hollywood's elite were on hand to celebrate the March ceremony. “I'm sure all of you remember that we experienced an unprecedented event at the Oscars,” said Yang.

  “What happened on stage was totally unacceptable and our organization's response was inadequate. We learned from this, the Academy must be fully transparent and accountable in our actions and, particularly in times of crisis, you must act quickly, compassionately and decisively for ourselves and our industry. You should not and can expect nothing less from us going forward.”